Wisconsin Cheese Curds, Deep Fried Recipe Edition

Anytime I post a recipe I have to quantify it by saying, I am not a food blogger, I am a food eater.

My thighs don't lie.

Thank you to my son for being my hand model.

So while I'm gearing up for a couple of paint projects after I return from a quick vacation, I'm gonna share one of those secrets to having thunder thighs, the food that gives me the courage to paint, the sustenance to forge on with my paint brush.

Cheese.  In fried curd form.

I do not advocate eating cheese curds on a daily basis.

However if you are like me, hate traveling to the state fair, (sorry Minnesota, yes I just said I hate the fair) but still want just one little bit of unhealthy eating at summer's end, well then cheese curds are it.

Especially if you have it as a side to a pronto pup..... corn dog, hot dog on a stick, whatever your state calls battered deep fried weenies.

And maybe deep fried candy bars if you are celebrating state fair week without going.  The state fair will deep fry anything.  Pickles.... yup, and who knows what else.

You read about touring St. Paul #1 here and #2 here, and then we had that beer, cheese and illegal fireworks run to Wisconsin here, well now I'm gonna show you what I did with the fresh cheese curds I bought and share my own deep fried cheese curd recipe with you.

Hold back your excitement please.

This is where we picked up our fresh cheese curds, Ellsworth Wisconsin, at the Ellsworth Diary.

The fresh ones need to be eaten within 7 days.  So I also bought some of the prepackaged ones in garlic and ranch flavor, because I never heard of such a curd flavor and because I was fairly certain after the 7 days was up someone at my house was going to want deep fried cheese curds at least one more time.

Those with slimmer thighs than I, can have cheese curds twice.

First lets talk about what a cheese curd is.

I have no idea. 

And I don't care.

I will give you my version of what I perceive them to be, you can Google if you want an official definition.

A cheese curd is a little rubbery hunk of sort of plain tasting cheese - mozzarella-ish - that for my taste buds has not much value till it is battered and deep fried.  That's when the cheese gets all melty ooie gooie, and those little round dairy balls explode with hot cheesy flavor.

I had to hunt down an old Fry Daddy we had from vacations in a motor home when we would fry fish.  It worked perfect, although anything you use to fry in should work if you get the oil hot enough first.

If you like mozzarella cheese, hot and melted, you will probably like cheese curds.

If you can find them.

I don't ever recall seeing them in California, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to taste anything with the word "curd" in it's description anyway till I descended upon the Midwest.

I happen to like my deep fried cheese curd recipe the best because I think they taste most like the ones from the fair.  The local fairs also serve cheese curds, but sometimes theirs get too greasy, like their batter holds the grease or something.

This recipe is not too different than the one on the Ellsworth Creamery web page, I mean there are only so many ways you can make a cheese curd batter, so if you are worried about calories, by all means use theirs.  HA! 

16 oz. or so bag of fresh or prepackaged cheese curds, I used a mixture of both, and both were made by Ellsworth Creamery.

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of 2% milk
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup ever so slightly rounded measure of flour
3/4 teaspoon, plus a generous pinch, of baking powder
no more than 1/4 teaspoon of salt - optional, I add just a pinch

Salt is optional.  I find the curds do not need it, but some folks do.  Try it both ways, see what you like.

Hot oil enough to cover, either in fryer, electric skillet or on the stove in a fry pan.

Mix all ingredients so the flour is incorporated.
Drop curds in mixture and move around to coat
Drop them in the oil till they are a nice golden color.

Too long and the cheese will disappear on the inside and you will be left with a crunchy outer batter thing.

Sometimes curds will stick together when they fry, no worry with that.

I think this is the first time my photos in a recipe post haven't looked like vomit.

The photos won't make these cheese curds look like health food either and if you eat too many your stomach might want to expel that grease.

Like anything else, moderation is key.

And believe me, I moderated the cheese curd eating.